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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A56905	Synodicon in Gallia reformata, or, The acts, decisions, decrees, and canons of those famous national councils of the reformed churches in France being I. a most faithful and impartial history of the rise, growth, perfection and decay of the reformation in that kingdom, with its fatal catastrophe upon the revocation of the Edict of Nants in the year 1685 : II. the confession of faith and discipline of those churches : III. a collection of speeches, letters, sacred politicks, cases of conscience, and controversies in divinity, determined and resolved by those grave assemblies : IV. many excellent expedients for preventing and healing schisms in the churches and for re-uniting the dismembred body of divided Protestants : V. the laws, government, and maintenance of their colleges, universities and ministers, together with their exercise of discipline upon delinquent ministers and church-members : VI. a record of very many illustrious events of divine providence relating to those churches : the whole collected and composed out of original manuscript acts of those renowned synods : a work never be extant in any language.	Quick, John, 1636-1706.; Eglises réformées de France.	1692 (1692)	Wing Q209; ESTC R10251	1,424,843	1,304

of Grace all other our Brethren who he groaning under the heavy Yoak and Burden of Afflictions that he would restore unto them the Consolations of his Spirit and put an end in his appointed Time according to his own good Pleasure unto all their Anguish and Sufferings Those many and sad Objects which are daily presented to our Eyes of a multitude of Refugees who were once themselves a Refuge unto the Faithful from the Storm and a Covert from the Tempest but being now saved by a mi●aculous out-stretched Arm from a most calamitous Shipwrack are wandring up and down seeking an Ark and Retreat from this overflowing Deluge and sheltring themselves as in a Sanctuary in this our poor City will not permit us to leave our God alone nor to give him any Rest till by our most importunate Prayers we have prevailed with him to stir up the Bowels of his Compassions for the deliverance of his Children And we also pour into your Bosoms the Sentiments of this Grief which as on the one hand it cannot but move our Sympathies so on the other hand it doth make us seriously reflect on God's Methods and Dealings with his Churches and principally to consider his exquisite Trials of Church-Officers who be constituted by him Overseers in his House and Service and were bound to sanctify his Name in their Performances lest he should sanctify himself upon them by his Judgments This was what he had denounc'd against all that draw near unto him and they have seen it executed in its Perfection Besides we cannot in these last Troubles of the Church but observe how poor and feeble a thing an Arm of Flesh is and how very perillous thole Succors and Assistances are which Men receive from it Whereas the true Shields and Bucklers of Salvation do belong to God who only hath the Priviledg and deserves the Glory of his Churches Protection and Deliverance And in this Confession the Faithful knowing that the Assistance of Heaven is promised unto those who do patiently wait for it as you your selves most honoured dear Brethren have frequently sensed and experienced in your Trials do always prefer the Resolutions and Weapons of the Spirit of God to the Counsels of the Flesh that so there may not be the least pot reflected or fastned upon the Gospel And those who despise Dignities and subject them to the Power of that Man of Sin to be trampled under foot by him may be ashamed and confounded at their Lies and Calumnies cast upon us from those evident Testimonies of our Loyalty and Fidelity which according to the Gospel is rendred unto God and unto those to whose Authority he hath subjected our Persons and Estates in this World And this will be most clearly owned and acknowledged even then whenas Pastors shall intend the interiour Service of the Sanctuary which is the Edification of precious and immortal Souls and do not walk according to the World nor fear their Fear but glorify God in the Day of their Tribulations by an absolute and intire resignation of themselves to him and dependance on him whom they must need know can never divest himself of that Care and Charge of them which he hath once took upon him so expresly and particularly as to be their Guardian their Fortress their strong Tower and a Wall of Fire and Brass round about his Church marching as their Captain-General in the Van and Front and bringing up the Rear-guard of his Israel whilst that the Priests are wholly busied and imployed in carrying the Ark of his Covenant And we do not speak this as taking upon us to be the Judges of any one's Work but with all due Respects communicating to you the Sentiments of our Consciences which we hope will be approved also by your Reverences we do hereby express the most affectionate Desires of our Souls that the Breaches in the Temple of God may be repaired and that the Face of our Lord Jesus Christ may shine forth more gloriously upon our Brethren and our selves unto Salvation by the Spirit of his Power in the Gospel of his Glory waiting always for that blessed Hope of his last Coming whose near Approaches are notoriously visible and conspicuous from those frequent Travel-Pangs of the Church and general Convulsions and Shakings of the Nations infallible Harbingers and Fore-runners of his glorious Appearance before which we comfortably hope that having chastised his Church he will turn the fiery Stream and Current of his Judgments upon the Enemies of his Truth and Glory and will most effectually by the Spirit of his Mouth destroy the Son of Perdition True indeed there is one thing which cuts the Sinews of our Hopes and obstructs the Progress of this Divine Work and exceedingly damps and saddens our Hearts to wit that incredible and astonishing Stupidity of vast Numbers of Persons who harden themselves in their Sins under the Rods of God's Wrath and do sottishly yield unto the Temptations of the Devil in the Hour of their Trials Yet notwithstanding we be greatly comforted most Honoured Lords and Brethren at the glad Tidings of those excellent Fruits which the Lord's Visitation hath produced in many of your Churches once again bringing into use and exercise those Graces and Vertues so necessary for the Faithful and so difficult to be exerted and practised in Times of Prosperity such as the love of God's Word contempt of the World and kindling again a Fire of holy Zeal by the Spirit of God upon the Altar of the Sacred Ministry to the conviction of Sins and Errors and the reformation of Life and of former Miscarriages and the strengthning of the infirm and weaker Christians This is a demonstration of the Spirit and Power of God who is not only magnified in rescuing of his Church whenas the World gave her up for lost but also as we are from all Parts credibly informed and for which we rejoice together with you in our Lord in manifesting the Power of his Truth whenas the Adversaries taking occasion from your Afflictions believed that it was as easy for them to triumph by their Sophistry over the Doctrine of the Gospel as to throw down your sorry Ramparts of Earth but they have in truth sound the Rock of God's Word to be then inexpugnable whenas there was least of the Work of Man and the Truth then most prevalent and invincible when discovered in its primitive native Beauty and Simplicity Whence we ground our Hopes and Considence that God who hath poured out his Blessing upon your Labours will not begin and advance his Work to destroy it nor will he build his Sion with your Hands and at last abandon it unto those of his most cruel Enemies Wherefore most honoured Lords and Brethren The Joy and Crown of God's Churches be you incouraged in the Lord and whatsoever Difficulties may befal you from without or from within by those who suffer themselves to be debauched by this evil World do you be fortified in your

Effigies Reverendi Viri IOHANNIS QUICK S ti Evangely Ministri an o Aetat 55o. SYNODICON in GALLIA REFORMATA SYNODICON IN Gallia Reformata OR THE Acts Decisions Decrees and Canons Of those Famous National Councils OF THE REFORMED CHURCHES IN FRANCE BEING I. A most Faithful and Impartial History of the Rise Growth Perfection and Decay of the Reformation in that Kingdom with its fatal Catastrophe upon the Revocation of the Edict of Nants in the Year 1685. II. The Confession of Faith and Discipline of those Churches III. A Collection of Speeches Letters Sacred Politicks Cases of Conscience and Controversies in Divinity determined and resolved by those grave Assemblies IV. Many excellent Expedients for preventing and healing Schisms in the Churches and for re-uniting the dismembred Body of divided Protestants V. The Laws Government and Maintenance of their Colleges Universities and Ministers toge●●er with their Exercise of Discipline upon delinquent Ministers and Church-members VI. A Record of very many illustrious Events of Divine Providence relating to those Churches The whole Collected and Composed out of Original Manuscript Acts of those Renowned SYNODS A Work never before Extant in any Language In Two VOLUMES By JOHN QUICK Minister of the Gospel in London LONDON Printed for T. Parkhurst and J. Robinson at the Three Bibles and Crown in Cheapside and the Golden Lion in St. Paul's Church-yard 1692. TO THE Right Honourable WILLIAM EARL of BEDFORD BARON of THORNHAVGH Lord Lieutenant of the Counties of Middlesex Cambridge and Bedford Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter and one of the Lords of Their Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council May it please your Lordship SEals as Coats of Arms an a kind of Hieroglyphicks Those Mother-Churches in the Valleys of Piedmont where our holy Religion hath been conserved in its Power and Purity during that long black night of Popish Superstition and Idolatry had this for their Common Seal A Taper burning in a golden Candlestick scattering its glorious Beams in a Sable Field of thick darkness It is a truth incontestable that most of the European Nations do stand indebted to them for that comfortable Knowledge of the blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus which is now shining forth in its Meridian-Glory in the midst of them The Famous Waldo of Lions was their near Neighbour and received his most Excellent Instructions together with that Book of Life the Holy Bible from them And Lollard that famous Preacher in England from whom God's Saints and Martyrs with us four hundred years ago were denominated was one of their Barbes I have met my most Noble Lord with another Seal as Illustrious an Hieroglyphick as the former appertaining unto the National Synods of those Renowned and once Flourishing though now Desolate Reformed Churches of France which was Moses's Miraculous Vision when he fed his Flock under the Mount of God viz. A Bramble-Bush in a flaming Fire having that Essential incommunicable name of God Jehovah engraven in its Center and this Motto Comburo non consumor in its Circumference I burn but am not Consumed With this those venerable Councils Sealed all their Letters and Dispatches A sacred Emblem of their past and present Condition Whilst Mystical Babylon Spiritual Sodom and Egypt where our Lord hath been in his most pretious Truths and Ordinances and in his dearest Saints and Members for many Ages successively Crucified did swim in the calm Ocean of Worldly Riches and Grandeurs in the pacifick Seas of secular Felicities and Pleasures Poor Zion in that bloody Kingdom of France hath been in the storms and flames hath passed from one fiery Tryal unto another from Cauldrons of boyling Oyl into burning Furnaces heated with fire seven times hotter than before she hath been driven from populous Cities and the pleasant Habitations of Men unto the cold snowy Lebanon to the high craggy tops of Amana and Shenir to the frightful Dens of Lions and to the horrid Mountains of Dragons and Leopards Why their Heavenly Father should afflict and exercise so frequently and so severely these his Children and Churches he himself informeth them by that weeping Prophet All thy Lovers have forgotten thee They seek thee not for I have wounded thee with the Wound of an Enemy with the chastisement of a cruel one for the multitude of thine Iniquities because thy Sins were increased Why criest thou for thy Afflictions Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity because thy Sins were increased I have done these things unto thee And in truth the mournful Relicks of these Calamitous Churches do justify God in all the evil that is befallen them do condemn themselves and kiss his Rod accepting patiently the punishment of their Iniquity But this Bramble-Bush though always burning is not consumed This is a Miracle of divine Mercy entailed upon them for many Generations I will mention the loving kindnesses of Jehovah and the praises of Jehovah according to all that Jehovah hath bestowed on them and his great goodness towards the House of Israel which he hath bestowed on them according to his Mercies and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses In all their affliction he was afflicted with them and the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them and he bare them and carried them all the days of old When they passed through the Waters he hath been with them and through the Rivers they have not drowned them and though they have walked through the fires yet they have not been burnt up those Flames have purified and refined but not devoured them And though these last storms like the Fluctus decumani have been the worst and forest yet they have not been without Illustrious tokens of God's gracious presence with them and most merciful providence over them He hath made the Earth to help the Woman he hath spread a Table for their sustenance in the Wilderness and provided for them in their flights dispersions and banishments a most quiet habitation and in this last and greatest persecution that ever did befal them they have found in this Land as well as in other Protestant Countries an inviolable Sanctuary and which cannot but be observed it was in that very juncture when those two smoaking Firebrands Rezin with Syria and the Son of Remaliah were in a joint Confederacy totally to extirpate the blessed Gospel as out of France so out of these Fortunate Islands they met with a safe Harbour in Great Brittain The pernicious Plot was carried on as vigorously here at home against the Reformation as it was cruelly Executed in Kibroth Hattaavah that Land of Graves from whence they fled and where thousands of God's Saints were buried alive When the Bartholomaean Massacre was projected in the last Age there was a design to have tricked over some of our most Noble Patriots unto that unfortunate Marriage in which more Blood was drunk than Wine who should have been Sacrificed together with that Valiant Lord

Pastors and Elders Deputed unto this Assembly have sworne and protested joyntly and severally that they consent unto this Doctrine and that they will defend it with the utmost of their power even to their last breath The Form and Tenour of which Oath together with the Deputies Names subscribed shall be added to the close of this Article that the consent may be rendred the more Authentick and Obliging to all the Provinces And this Assembly ordaineth that this very Canon be printed and added to the Canons of the said Council and that it shall be read in our Provincial Synods and in our Universities that it may be approved sworne and subscribed to by the Pastors and Elders of our Churches and by the Doctors and Professors in our Universities and also by all those that are to be ordained and admitted into the Ministry or into the Professors Chair in any of our Universities And if any one of these Persons should reject either in whole or in part the Doctrine contained in and decided by the Canons of the said Council or refuse to take the Oath of Consent and Approbation This Assembly decreeth that he shall not be admitted into any Office or Imployment either in our Churches or Universities Moreover this Assembly conjureth by the bowels of Divine Mercy and by the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant all Ministers Pastors of Churches to whom the Cure of pretious Souls is committed that they would walk together evenly and harmoniously in one and the same way that they abstain from all idle unprofitable and curious Questions that they do not pry into the Sacred Ark of Gods hidden and unrevealed Counsels and Decrees above or beyond what is recorded in his written Word the Holy Scriptures of Truth but rather that they would humbly own and acknowledge their ignorance of those profound and unfathomable Mysteries than intrude themselves into things unlawful and that they would so order their Discourses and Sermons concerning Predestination that it may promote Repentance and Amendment of Life consolate wounded Consciences and excite the practice of Godliness that by this means all occasions of Disputes and Controversies may be avoided and we may abide united in one and the same Faith with our Brethren of the Netherlands and other Churches of our Lord Jesus without the Kingdom as maintaining together with them and contending for one and the same Faith assaulted by the same common Enemies and called to one and the same hope through our Lord Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost be Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen CHAP. XII The Forme of the Oath taken in the National Synod and which is to be administred unto all the Members of Provincial Synods I N. N. do Swear and Protest before God and this Holy Assembly that I do receive approve and imbrace all the Doctrines taught and decided by the Synod of Dort as perfectly agreeing with the Word of God and the Confession of our Churches I Swear and Promise to persevere in the Profession of this Doctrine during my whole Life and to defend it with the utmost of my power and that I will never neither by Preaching nor Teachings in the Schools nor by Writing depart from it I declare also and I protest that I reject and condemn the Doctrine of the Arminians because it makes Gods Decree of Election to depend upon the mutable Will of Man and for that it doth extenuate and make null and void the Grace of God it exalteth Man and the powers of Free Will to his destruction it reduceth into the Church of God old ejected Pelagianisme and is a Mask and Vizard for Popery to creep in among us under that disguise and subverteth all Assurance of Everlasting Life and Happyness And so may God help me and be propitious to me as I swear all this without any Ambiguity Equivocation or mental Reservation Sworn and Subscribed by Peter du Moulin Pastor of the Church of Paris Deputy for the Isle of Franse and Moderator of the Synod Laurence Brunier Pastor of the Church of Vsez Deputy for the Province of lower Languedoc and Assessor of the Synod Nicholas Vignier Pastor of the Church of Blois Deputy for the Province of Orleans and Scribe of the Synod Thomas Papillon Elder in the Church of Paris Deputy for the Isle of France and Scribe of the Synod Isack de Juigne Pastor of the Church of Vassy and Deputy for the Province of the Isle of France Picardy c. Samuel de L'Escherpiere Pastor of the Church of Roan Daniel Massys Pastor in the Church of Caen Antony Bridon Elder in the Church of Feschamp James de Montbray Elder in the Church of Conde Deputies for the Province of Normandy Ezechiel Marmet Pastor in the House of the duke of Rohan Philip de Vassaut elder in the Church of Roche Bernard Deputies for the Province of Britain Daniel Jammen Pastor of the Church of St. Amand John de Bennes Elder in the Church of Gien Galliot de Cambirs Elder in the Church of Romorantin Deputies for the Province of Orleans Samuel Bouchereau Pastor of the Church of Saumur Matthew Cottiers Pastor of the Church in Touns George Rabbotteau Elder in the Church of Pruilly Deputies for the Province of Touraine John Chauffepied Pastor of the Church of Niort John Carre Pastor of the Church of Chastelheraud Giles Begaud Elder of the Church of Mountagu Deputies for the Province of Poictou Daniel Chanet Pastor of the Church of Ars John Constans Pastor of the Church of Pons Peter Pa●quet Elder in the Church of Rouchfoucauld Peter Promentin Elder in the Church of St. John de Angely Deputies for the Province of Xaintonge James du Luc Pastor of the Church of Casteljaloux James Privat Pastor of the Church of Chastillion Francis Joly Elder in the Church of Bourdeaux John Guillim Elder in the Church of Grateloupe Deputies for the Province of lower Guienne David Agard Pastor of the Church of Valance Daniel Richard Pastor of the Church of Cheilar John de Blache Elder in the Church of Biuffres John de Rouvre Elder in the Church of Aubenas Deputies for the Province of Vivaretz Michael le Faucheur Pastor of the Church of Montpellier Charles de Boaques Elder in the same Church Anthony de Roques Elder in the Church of Montfrin Deputies for the Province of lower Languedoc John de Voysin Pastor of the Church of Realmont Antony Garrissoles Pastor of the Church of Puylaurent Paul de Luppe Elder in the Church of Mauvoisin James du Elder in the Church of Montauban Deputies for the higher Languedoc Peter Helliot Pastor of the Church of Arnay le Duc Francis Perreauld Pastor of the Church of Mascon and Noyer du Noyer Elder in the Church of Bussy Deputies for the Province of Burgundy Peter Huron Pastor in the Church of Riez Elias de Glandeves Elder in the Church of Puymitchel Deputies for the Province of Provence Paul Guyon Pastor of the Church of

Truths of the Sacred Oracles lest by the weakness of their Judgments and the fervour and instability of their age which enamours them of Curiosities they should be intangled in Debates and Controversies and embrace Factions and Partialities And indeed the Butt and Mark of well Educated Students in Divinity should not be to be the first Authors and Forgers of Novel and Subtil Opinions as in the Papacy where they be plung'd into a gulph of endless Errors and abastardized by a world of fruitless useless and endless Inquiries nor is it that they should be wrangling and worthless Disputants nor Speculative Doctors without any Savour or Power but the true End and Design of these our Theological Students ought be this That they may be a Holy Seed-plot of Able and Godly Pastors Sound in the Faith Mighty in Word and Doctrine Wise unto Sobriety keeping the great Mystery of Godliness in a pure Conscience delivering and dividing the word of Truth aright And in fine to be Men of God perfect and prepared for every good work of their Calling to which Holy and Noble ends all forts of Subtilties are utterly unserviceable and have ever marred the Divine Doctrine by wicked Errors or the Broachers of them by Ambition Contention Curiosity Conceitedness or the Church by a disgust of Scripture Purity and Simplicity or by Factions and Divisions which never happen when the common Sentiments of the Church are taught tho' by Ministers of meaner Parts and Talents whereas these have always happened by means of affected Singularities which is the true and genuine Food of the Romish Ambition which ever laboureth to subdue the common Sentiments because they be its greatest obstacles and most obstructing its growth and progress The Lord grant that the Sparkles of this Fire in the midst of you may not spring from the same Source Poor Germany hath sadly felt the direful effects of the flames kindled by it in its frequent and bitter Schisms Every Prince would have his University and every University admired and exalted its own Doctor as the most Eminent Professor of them all every Doctor had conceived and must needs broach and vend his new Notions and singular Opinions and these new Opinions are brought upon the publick Stage of the World where it hath met with fierce Antagonists and between these doughty Champions the poor Church of God hath been torn all to pieces To this consideration let us subjoin another for God's sake keep Philosophy within its due and proper bounds closely and strictly watched and restrained that it may only if we may so express it break up the Fallow ground of the Spirits of our youth but not in the least to take upon her by her Maxims and Assertions to bring in Seed and Food for the Church and House of God which must be fed with the pure Manna of the Divine Word whose Majesty and Liberty was so happily asserted and recovered by our Godly Fathers from that Bondage and Captivity whereinto the School-Divines of the Romish Church had enslaved it and into which 't is very likely it will be again insensibly reduced either by a too great fear of their false Weapons or by a perverse Emulation of them And yet in the mean while the Sacred Scriptures will be best understood by a diligent reading of them by comparing one Text with another and by Invocation of the Holy Ghost to enlighten our dark minds in the Knowledge of them and they will be thus more easily digested and brought home with a greater force and efficacy upon Conscience in a sober sensing of them according to the simplicity of Faith and Demonstration of the Spirit than by the most audacious and curious Applications of these false Lights new Notions and vain Discourses of Philosophy Pelagianism in the Low Countrys was the Plant of the Spanish Metaphysicks producing not Pious and Painful and Profitable but Subtile Pastors and Preachings an infinite Brood of Disputants void of Understanding and corrupt in Points of Faith Subtilties bring forth Thorns which never leave the Churches nor Consciences at rest but scratch and tear them to pieces And we exhort you to be Jealous and Suspicious of new Methods and imaginary Hypotheses and an affected singular way of Teaching and to avoid them Arminius took his walks at first in these by-paths till such time as he had gotten a stock of Credit and Reputation and had form'd for himself a Party then he pull'd off his Vizard and canvasseth all Points of Doctrine even those which were but accessary with no little vehemence in his Disputations and was uneasy till the roots had been searched and the most Fundamental Points had been assaulted and shaken Indeed the one wounds the other and it was always known that they who once chang'd their note and language and the sound Doctrine delivered to them have been attended by some secret hidden Vice or else they do engender it in their Followers Discharge therefore most Reverend and Honoured Brethren your bounden Duty unto your Churches and give this Memorable example unto them all and unto us this singular Consolation That you do maintain inviolably the Faith once Taught Established and Sealed among you far more than in any place of the World besides by a multitude of Divine Witnesses and Approbations which have rendered you a Spectacle of admiration to Men and Angels grub up by the Roots every Plant of Heterodoxy and by your Authority do you re-inforce as you shall find needful that Harmony and Agreement of the Reformed Churches which was declared in the Synod of Dort which having been the first General Council of the Churches in our days wherein God most evidently presided by his Holy Spirit and there will be difficulties enough to get such another doth therefore of right deserve the greater Reverence and Submission because of the disrespect offered it by the Broachers of these Novelties And this should be done unless we intend to be cry'd down as a sort of ungovernable persons refractary to that Order and Discipline which God hath Sanctified and Established from the very beginning in the Christian Church Ponder well how your past actions have been justified and may it please you to take that care that you may not hereafter be necessitated to make use of this Remedy against affected Ambiguities and Obscurities We very well know that some are charming your Ears with the Re-union of both Religions but that constancy and firmness you testified in your last Synod the nature of the points wherewith you be tempted that cannot admit of any reconciliation and for that you must make the first Overtures to a Party which keeps the wound open and holds the departure from them intolerable if ever you hope to get from them clear and plain Declarations of their Intentions and finally the whole set on foot without any Authority or Warrant and with apparent marks of very little sincerity and for great Worldly Respects and Interests freeth us of all

Thursday and part of the Day following When the said de la Milletiere importunately demanding that now in his turn he might oppose and produce the Arguments in defence of his Opinions confirmed as he pretended by the Council of Trent tho this was far wide from what he at first requested yet was it freely granted him And he having continued Writing till Evening and for that it was needful he should be answered Monsieur Amyraud spent a great part of the Fryday night and of the Saturday Morning in making a Reply unto him Whereupon the said de la Milletiere finding that the time allotted him was expired the Fryday Evening he came and demanded a longer time for continuing the Conference Which the Synod did once more refuse him especially because that he had fully opened his Intentions and in formal Words declared that by that Writing subscribed with his own Hand he never promised to submit his Doctrin but Himself and Person to the Judgment of the Assembly who taking as in truth they could not but take this distinction such an one as it was in any other Sense than a notorious Scorn of their Just and Charitable Endeavours for his Eternal Welfare They told him plainly that neither they nor any of their Commissioners would waste a moment more of their precious time about him and adjured him by the Mouth of the Sieur Garrissoles their Moderator to give Glory unto God and to relinquish his most impious Designs and added farther that they did as the National Synod of Alanson had done before them declare that for divers Years past he was not to be reputed a Member of our Reformed Churches After which the said de la Milletiere demanded a Copy of the Conference collation'd with the Original and Sign'd by Monsieur Amyraud and the Two other Commissioners that he might make such Reflections on it as he thought best which was readily accorded him by the Synod But before the said Copy was finished on Monday the 23d of January the said de la Milletiere accompanied with one de Nardeau Huisser des Eaux Forests de France Overseer of the Waters and Forests of France living at Paris came unto Charenton and applying himself to Monsieur Blondel one of the Scribes delivered to him by the Hands of the said Nardeau an Act subscribed with his own Hand summoning the Synod to cause the said Conference began at Charenton by their Commissioners whom he all accused but especially Monsieur Amyraud of Ignorance and False Dealing to be continued in Paris And Secondly in case of Refusal that then they consign unto them the Acts signed by the said Commissioners that he might examine them at his leisure and pleasure Which said Summons being brought in and reported to the Synod by Monsieur Blondel a Vote past that Copies of those Acts Collationed and Subscribed by the said Commissioners and by Monsieur Amyraud should be delivered unto the said de la Milletiere according to his desire And that Monsieur Amyraud should be in readiness to refute him in case he should attempt as he threatned to make any further opposition by his Scribbles against that sound and saving Doctrin of Justification professed in all the Protestant Churches And whereas by these last actings of his the said de la Milletiere hath discovered himself to be immovably fixed in his Designs of impugning the Truth professed in all the Churches of this Kingdom which he now treateth as his avowed Adversaries and that for these Twelve Years last past notwithstanding all Admonitions and Remonstrances made him he hath wholly estranged himself from our Communion altho he hath frequently assisted at the Sermons which have been during all that time and still are Preached at Charenton This Synod confirming the Decree of the last National Synod held at Alanson in the Year 1637. doth now ordain that on the next Lord's Day being the Nine and Twentieth of this Instant January after the Morning Sermon is ended and before the last Prayer is poured out before God the said Sieur de la Milletiere shall be denounced by the Pastor from the Polpit in the Face of the whole publick Assembly an Excommunicate Person and cut off from the Body of our Reformed Churches and not at all to be reputed a Member of them A Copy of the Act of Excommunication to be Published the 29th of January 1645. against the Sieur De la Milletiere Most dear Brethren YOV have seen with very much Regret how Theophilus Brachet Sieur de la Milletiere hath made it his business for several Years by his Publick Writings to combat the Faith professed in all our Churches and you have been a long time grieved in your Souls for his scandalous Actings and Proceedings which are directly contrary to the bounden Duty of a Person educated from his Cradle in the knowledge and profession of the True Religion now utterly despised by him He had rather abound in his own Sense and suffer himself to be seduced by his own Prejudices than yield the least tittle of Deference and Respect unto those Remonstrances and Admonitions which the Christian Charity of the Consistory of this Church did in the first place make him and which were again and again repeated to him by the express Order of the National Synod of Alanson held in the Year 1637. and with this particular Clause That in case he did not return unto himself and give Glory unto God within the space of Six Months by renouncing of his corrupt Opinions and desisting from his sinful Practices that he should be no more owned nor acknowledged for a Member of our Reformed Churches those just and needful Admonitions having wrought no Impressions upon his Heart nor hitherto produced their long desired and much expected Fruit and Effect but that he is since the more hardened obstinate and inexcusable The National Synod of the Reformed Churches in this Kingdom which is now breaking up in this place desirous to apply a proper Remedy to so long a continued Scandal and as much as in it lieth to procure your Edification doth now ratisie and confirm that Decree of the former Assembly held at Alanson and declareth to you by our Mouth that the said Sieur De la Milletiere who hath been for Ten Years together suspended from the Lord's Table and Communion with the Church of God in that most holy Sacrament and hath been ever since the Year 1638. cut off from the Number of the Faithful of our Confession ought not any longer to be reckon'd or reputed by you as a Member of the Reformed Amen This very Act was accordingly pronounced at the Close of the Morning Sermon upon the Lord's Day January 29. 1645. by Mr. Theophilus Rossel Pastor of the Church of Xaintes in the Church of Charenton before that great and numerous Congregation ARTICLE II. The Petition of Monsieur du Mais upon the account of his Services unto the Churches of Auvergne is dismissed over to the Province

got out of God's Ark and the Deluge is about thee Where wilt thou pitch the Sole of thy Foot Go then as the Dove and return unto thy place Salvation is not to be had any where else Thou knowest it as well as I. Whether art thou gone Where art thou a going Dost not thou know that Jesus Christ only hath the Words of Eternal Life Thinkest thou to find it any where else Why Man He only is the Way the Truth and the Life Thou hast changed thy Riligion thou hast quitted thy Party thou hast abandoned thy Flock Good God what hast thou done O Friend I forbear to speak my Fears But once again What hast thou done Thou hast quitted the Rich Pearl with the Cock in the Fable for a Grain of Wheat See from whence thou art fallen and consider I beseech thee Dear Friend what thou hast gotten by thy Fall Thou embracest a Religion patch'd up of Human Ceremonies Thou knowest it well a Religion which is an Hodge-podg of Jewish and Pagan Ceremonies blended together Thou hast thrown thy self into its Arms thou liest in its Bosom thou wearest its Livery and art marked with its Marks And thou very well knowest why and wherefore Thou wast remiss in thy Duty Thou wast not payed thy Sallary This was thy frequent Complaint Thou idle and slothful Servant oughtest thou to forsake thy Lord's Service and his Flock Thou wast not serious enough nor caredst to take pains in thy Calling Instead of studying and giving thy self to reading thou hauntedst wicked Companies which thou knowest corrupt good Manners and being such an one thy self thou couldst not chuse better Birds of a Feather will Flock together More I might say but I spare thee Well Man what hast thou done Consider I beseech thee and I adjure thee to it by the Bowels of our ancient Friendship that 't is the true Religion which thou hast forsaken and that only in which Salvation is to be had and that the very Church of Rome her self believeth all the Articles that the Reformed Church believeth And I can speak it and thou knowest it as well as I that in case she were divested of all her Jewish Ceremonies and Human Inventions and of Men's Traditions which are set up in the room of God's Word the Romish Religion would be no longer Roman but Reformed What then hast thou done Thou hast took the Shadow for the Substance the Ceremonies for the Truth I protest unto thee upon my Soul that thou art out of the way Friend Give me thy Hand and I will once more set thee in the right way and thou shalt taste how gracious the Lord is to them that fear him that he is ready to forgive most willing to shew Mercy and if thou hast recourse unto him by Prayers and Supplications in the Name and Merits of his Dear Son thou shalt certainly obtain the Remission of thy Sins thro his Name My Friend thou hast joyned thy self to the Communion of Idols and art a Partner with Idolaters and dost thou think in their Communion to work out thy Salvation Be not deceived God will not be mocked No Idolaters shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Ah! dost not thou know that our Religion which thou hast quitted giveth the Glory of Man's Salvation unto the Christ of God only That it ascribeth the Salvation of Believers to the Lord Jesus only That it preacheth nothing else but what the Elect Apostle of the Gentiles preached even Jesus Christ and him Crucified That it putteth Confidence in none but God And as David seeketh for none in Heaven but God That it adoreth no Creature whatsoever but adoreth God only Father Son and Spirit Three Persons in one God That it invocateth God only because besides him there never was nor never will be any that can help save and deliver That with the blessed Virgin she calleth him her God and her Saviour That it teacheth not the Doctrin of Devils nor forbiddeth Marriage nor to obstain from Meats which God hath created to be used by the Faithful and those who have not known the Truth with Thanksgiving That it is not Sacrilegious to rob the People of the Cup against the express Commandment of God That it reacheth God to be a Spirit and that such as worship him must worship him in Spirit and in Truth That it teacheth to fear God and to honour the King whom may the Lord of his Mercy long preserve To sanctifie the day of Rest but not Festivals which are only Men's Inventions To keep Promise and Covenant tho to a Man's Loss and Hurt Rather to serve God than Men And forasmuch as God hath spoken the Word that he will not give his Glory unto another nor his Praise unto Graven Images it teacheth all to ascribe Glory unto God only and to give him the Thanks of all our Mercies because he is the sole Author and Donour of them Our Religion doth not take away any of God's Commandments nor suffereth any Images to be made nor Pictures to be hung up that they should be served and adored A Religion neither addeth to nor taketh any thing from the Holy Word of God for it well knows that such as do so the Plagues written in that Word shall be inflicted on them and their Names shall be blotted out of the Book of Life It teacheth with St. Paul that the Divine Scriptures can make us wise unto Salvation and with St. John that the Blood of Jesus cleanseth us from all Sin and that there is none other Purgatory for our Sins than Christ's Blood Time would fail me and I should but waste it if I told thee That the Death of the Son of God is our Life his Wounds our Health and that there is none other Sacrifice for Sin than that one only and never to be repeated Sacrifice of his Death Friend our Religion teacheth that by this Sacrifice we have the Remission of all our Sins and that where the Remission of Sins is there is no more Oblation for Sin and therefore no Mass Take heed unto thy self Friend for if thou sinnest wilfully after Admonition after that thou hast received the knowledge of the Truth know of a Truth that there is no more Sacrifice for Sins Do not then count the Blood of the Covenant a prophane thing for thou knowest that 't is a most fearful thing to fall into the Hands of an incensed God Be zealous therefore and Repent In short thou knowest that all the Doctrins of our Religion are contained in th● Holy Scriptures and yet thou hast quitted it What hast thou done Thou art return'd unto Babylon from which God hath brought thee forth in the Loyns of thy Fathers that thou mightst not participate in her Sins nor in her Plagues Thou hast return'd with the Dog unto thy Vomit and with the Sow that was washed to wallow in the Mire My Friend my Bowels are troubled for thee Believe and follow my Counsel Awake and